


Sleeping is for the Weak

by awesomerosie



Series: Dramatic Human Universe [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Character Death, Humans AU, M/M, Mentions of Rape, Violence, Young Theo, also a weird Brett/Nolan/Gabe relationship, because I can't write Thiam without them, but not one of the boys, fluff ending, minor Morey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-25 12:36:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13834410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awesomerosie/pseuds/awesomerosie
Summary: Theo's life is a series of sleepless nights, his paranoia keeping him awake around others. His trip through the foster care system only made everything worse. There are only a few people in this world he trusts enough to sleep next to, and one of those is the new blue-eyed freshman: Liam.





	Sleeping is for the Weak

**Author's Note:**

> This happened because I am too sleep deprived to write the two on-going fics I have and I needed to air some emotions. I'm sorry if this is terrible, I honestly can't tell.
> 
> Disclaimer: I have no idea how the foster care system works. I should probably read up on that because I've used it in two fics now.
> 
> But anyway, enjoy~

Theo did not trust anyone.

He could only sleep in a closed room, completely cordoned off from the rest of the world, or near someone he trusted, but only if they were awake, and somehow he knew the moment they fell asleep.

It wasn't a problem until his parents were murdered, which definitely did not help his paranoia. He was put into foster care at the age of eight. His sister Tara was the only reason he survived.

-

The first home they were placed in had separated them, putting them in different rooms. It took Theo a week to get used to the surroundings and then they brought two more kids in and put one of them in his room.

He couldn’t tell Tara, she would think he was weak, so he took his opportunities when they came. He slept through every movie night and lazy weekend afternoon, hoping no one caught on to just how tired he was.

They were ejected from that home two years later when he lashed out at the other boy in a tired rage, hitting him so hard with a toy it cut open his arm.

-

The second home was where Theo decided he was an atheist, because if this is what church-goers acted like he would rather rot in Hell with the sane people.

Even with a room to himself, he couldn’t sleep because something in this house felt wrong. Theo couldn’t put his finger on it, but the pain in his gut whenever he laid eyes on the ‘man of the house’ told him something.

There was a slap and Theo whipped his head around to look. The man had just backhanded his sister across the face, for what reason Theo wasn’t sure.

“Don’t ever talk to me like that again, child!” the man shouted, hovering over her.

“Stop molesting little girls then!” Tara shouted back, caressing her cheek.

The man seemingly had no retort to that. He raised his hand again, going for another slap when Theo charged over to them, punching the man in the groin. He keeled over, groaning.

Theo grabbed Tara’s hand and ran. They dodged around things in the house, through the hall, and down the stairs, listening for the sound of footsteps behind them. Unfamiliar with the house, they ended up at a locked back door only unlockable from the outside. They spun around only to see the man standing in the only other exit.

The man lunged at them. Tara expertly dodged, but Theo was not so lucky. The man caught his arm, twisting it around behind his back painfully.

“Don’t hurt him!” Tara screamed, tears pricking at her eyes.

The man gave her a sinister grin as he snapped Theo’s arm in two. Theo hollered in pain. The man chuckled and released him from his hold. Theo crumpled to the ground, tears streaming down his face.

Theo giggled, face twisted into an angry smirk. “Now we have proof you’re psychotic,” he gritted, standing up on shaky legs, placing himself between the man and Tara, arm hanging loosely at his side. “Hit me again, you bastard, I dare you! Let’s see how much jail time you can get!”

Tara saw the other girl, Lana, standing behind the man. She mouthed ‘9-1-1’ to her hoping she would get the message. She watched as Lana dashed away, hope sizzling under the fear she felt.

The man roared, hitting Theo again.

Theo cackled even through the beating, face bloody and bones broken.

The cops showed up eventually. By then Theo was lying in a pool of his own blood, Tara cradling his head, and the man sitting in the corner rocking back and forth as if HE was the one who just went through something traumatic.

The man got forty years for child abuse and pedophilia. It didn’t seem like enough to Theo, he hurt so many girls Theo wanted him dead.

-

After being released from the hospital, they were put into a boarding school of sorts, where Theo, once again, had a roommate that was not his sister.

Anger simmered just under the surface of Theo’s skin at all times. He hadn’t slept more than a couple hours in ten days. He was actually considering suffocating his roommate Denny just so he could have one night without his incessant snoring.

Denny stopped breathing at one point and Theo hoped he had died, unfortunately, he snorted and went back to snoring a moment later. Theo groaned and rolled out of bed.

He wandered the grounds, stopping in a spot in the garden obscured from prying eyes by shrubbery. He lounged on a bench, closing his eyes.

 

What seemed like a moment later he was awakened by the sun on his face. He lazed there enjoying the warm March morning.

Someone came up to him, clothes swishing against the bushes.

“Theodore Raeken, what are you doing here?”

Theo squinted an eye open, seeing the head nun standing above him. “I was just enjoying God’s gift to mankind, Mother Superior.” His voice full of sarcasm.

“Your appreciation will not go unnoticed, I assure you, but classes began over an hour ago. Begone, child.”

Theo begrudgingly dragged himself up and out of the garden, heading for his room instead to get some more much-needed sleep.

 

He spent the next several months basically staying awake as long as possible and then sleeping in the garden when he couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer. It wasn’t a good life, but it was something.

Tara came up to him in the library. He had been staring blankly at the history book in front of him for nearly twenty minutes.

“Are you okay?” she asked, sitting down beside him.

He blinked at her for a moment. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“How much sleep have you had in the past week?” Her eyes swept from the dark circles under his eyes to the thin scraggly hair on his head.

Theo thought for a second, counting up the minutes. “Six?” he said questioning. He wasn’t actually sure, the whole year felt like a blur.

“Theo,” she said in the consoling mom voice she was developing, “you need to sleep more.”

He looked down at the book again, maybe now was a good time to air everything out. “I can’t.”

“Why not?” She stroked a hand down his arm, squeezing comfortingly.

“Too many people.”

She gazed at him with watery eyes and pulled him into a hug. “Would it help if I was there?”

He nodded, holding back the tears threatening to spill.

“Come on, we’ll go to my room and you can get some sleep.”

 

Theo spent the next couple weeks sneaking into Tara’s room at night, at least with her there he could get in a light doze.

That all stopped when the Mother superior caught him.

“Theodore Raeken, have you no shame?!” she whisper-shouted, grabbing him by the arm. “This is the girl's dorm, boys are not allowed inside.”

“I was just going to see Tara,” he tried to defend himself, pulling at his arm, flashbacks of his last foster home playing in his head.

“It is late and you both should be in bed. There is no need for you to be in this wing. Go home, Theodore.”

Theo yanked his arm free, glaring at her as he walked away.

They posted guards at the dorm doors after that. There was no way Theo was getting back in there.

 

The exhaustion of months of sleepless nights weighed heavily on Theo’s shoulders. His mind was so clouded it tanked his grades.

He was called into the headmaster’s office at one point. The headmaster tried to help, offering tutors and counseling, but the rage inside of Theo had been building for too long.

He was expelled after beating another kid nearly to death because of a stupid, off-handed comment. It wasn't Theo's proudest moment.

-

They spent the next few years in and out of foster homes, only one of which Theo actually liked.

Carla, an older woman with two dogs took them in during Theo’s freshman year. Theo Loved that woman. It was the first time in ages that he actually let his guard down.

Theo was devastated when Carla and Tara died in a car accident that same year.

He collapsed in on himself, not letting anyone near him. He couldn’t go through pain like that a third time.

That is until junior year when a pair of bright blue eyes caught his attention.

Theo watched the blue-eyed kid for a month, extracting information from bits of overheard conversation and Google searching. It felt creepy, but Theo just had to know.

He learned the kid’s name was Liam and he was badass on the lacrosse field. He was an ordinary freshman, but something about him put Theo at ease. Even when Theo learned about the IED he was still much more relaxed in Liam’s presence than anyone else's.

Theo had to get closer. It was the only way to know for sure. He went with the only tactic he knew, blunt and unapproachable.

 

Theo walked up to Liam in the hall, tapping him on the shoulder, turning Liam’s attention. “You, me, Pancake House, 5 o’clock tomorrow.”

Liam blinked at him confused. “I have a girlfriend?”

“I don’t care,” Theo said, walking away.

 

Theo was sure this wasn’t going to work. Liam wouldn’t just come on a weird date with a stranger. Theo dropped his head on the table.

He looked up when someone sat on the bench across from him. Liam stared quizzically back at him.

“Hi,” Theo squeaked, grimacing at how unsure he sounded.

“Hey. What is this about?” Liam asked, an eyebrow rising slowly up his forehead.

Theo stared into the space in front of Liam, trying to think through the fog, his mind telling him to go to sleep right then and there. “I need you to sleep with me.”

Both of Liam’s eyebrows shot up and his mouth opened in shock. “What?!”

“I need to sleep near you.” He paused. “That didn’t sound any better did it?”

Liam shook his head no, his face changing from shock to confusion.

Theo looked down at the table as he said, “I need to sleep, but I can’t, so I need you to hang out while I take a nap.”

They sat there, Liam staring at Theo, and Theo staring at the tabletop.

Liam heaved a sigh and quietly said, “alright, your place or mine?”

“I would sleep in a swimming pool if it made you feel better about this.”

 

They ended up at Liam’s house. Liam sat on the end of the bed. Theo stood awkwardly in the doorway.

“This is probably the weirdest thing I’ve done,” Liam mumbled.

“Same here.”

“Well, uh, make yourself at home, I guess. Do you need me to do anything?”

“No, just be here. Do whatever you want while I’m out.” Theo climbed into Liam’s bed. “Liam? Thank you.”

“No problem.”

-

Theo felt a warm body half underneath him. He nuzzled further into the crook of its neck, smelling faint traces of almond and mango. He forgot how real dreams felt.

The body shifted, wrapping an arm around Theo’s waist. “Sleep well?”

Theo nodded, nose brushing down the length of its neck, making it shiver.

“So awkward story, you never told me your name, and I feel like it’s weird to be cuddling with a dude I don’t even know the name of.”

Theo glanced around the room. Liam’s room. This was not a dream. He pushed himself up on his elbow. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

“You know, I tried,” Liam said, teasing tone in his voice, “but someone decided to become a koala and wouldn’t let go.”

“Sorry, I-” Theo said, sitting up, “I should go.” He stood. This was a bad idea, forcing a stranger to let him sleep in his bed. Theo was a giant asshole. This kid had a girlfriend for fuck's sake!

“It’s cool, man. You obviously needed the sleep.” Liam watched as Theo started walking away. “Come back anytime!”

-

Theo avoided Liam for a week, not wanting to live through the embarrassment of remembering that night. He could survive without him, he’s done it before.

Liam cornered Theo in the hallway outside the restroom, blocking him in with both arms.

“Why are you avoiding me?”

Theo looked Liam in the eyes. “Because I don’t need you anymore.”

Liam’s expression was...hurt? Theo thought he would be relieved. The weirdness could stay as an awkward one night stand.

Liam backed away slightly, offering Theo an escape route. “Have you slept at all since that night?” he asked quietly.

“Yes,” he said bluntly, voice hardened in stubbornness.

Liam’s face darkened. “You’re lying to me, I can tell. Answer my question honestly.”

Theo averted his gaze, invisible walls starting to crumble. “Yes,” he repeated, voice going soft, “but only briefly.”

“Just let me help you,” Liam started to say, clearly about to go into a long speech about friendship or something that Theo did not have the patience for.

“I'm fine.” Theo pushed passed Liam, ignoring his pleas to ‘just talk to me!’

The tiny builders in his head began laying bricks behind the first layer of wall, sacrificing the space to keep himself together. Liam didn't need to know all the horrible things that were wrong with him. Liam had friends and family and a future, he did not need Theo dragging him down.

He still had classes that day, but his legs didn't stop until he was standing in the preserve. He didn't know where he was or how he got there, but he didn't care much at the moment.

-

It was getting harder to avoid Liam. He had convinced his friends to keep a lookout. Theo only realised this when he caught Nolan sending a picture of Theo with the words 'he looks like death’ scrawled across it. He glared at the kid through the remainder of French class, hoping he would get the message to leave him alone.

Unfortunately, Theo had no such luck. At lunch, he sat in his usual spot in the grass outside, alone with his book, until Liam's friend group came up and sat next to him. They conversed around him as if he was part of them.

Theo stared at the clear sky, hoping a raincloud would appear magically and chase these idiots away.

“Why?” Theo grunted in the middle of Liam's sentence.

“Why what?” Liam asked innocently.

Theo rolled his head toward him. “Why are you here?”

“Because this is what friends do.”

“We're not friends.”

“You cuddled me as you slept in my bed. We're almost more than friends.”

Oh, how Theo wished that were true. “It was a one-time thing. No need to get your panties in a twist. Just let it go.”

Liam glared deadly and sexy as hell. “Mason, if a random stranger asked to sleep in your bed and then actively avoided you while staring at the back of your head for a month straight after, would you let it go?”

“Not one that hot.”

Liam wiggled his eyebrows in what Theo thought was supposed to mean 'see, I rest my case,’ but actually looked like caterpillars going on a jog.

Theo didn't dignify that with a response, preferring to change the subject away from himself.

-

When Theo did sleep he often had nightmares.

Nightmares were always odd for him. They usually had something to do with whatever problem he had been having, but they were never from his perspective.

Today he was a woman who just moved into this sketchy old house, nice and cliché. She left her husband and baby in the yard to go clean the upper floors.

While she was there she watched several children die, every death echo ending with a sinister old man seemingly grinning right at her.

She ran outside to find her family, but they were gone, the only sign they existed; a baby blanket left in the mud.

Theo felt the woman's panic, fear, and then acceptance as she went back inside the house.

The old man's grin grew impossibly wider as he lunged at her. Her heart was ripped from her chest and Theo woke with a jolt. His roommate for the past year didn’t even stir.

He glanced at his phone. Three full hours, this was, ironically, the most restful night's sleep he'd had since Liam's house.

-

Theo tried to stay awake, but it was his last class and the only one he shared with Liam. He rested his head on the desk, thinking it would only be for a moment.

He woke to fingers running through his hair. The classroom was dark when he opened his eyes, far past the end of the school day. His gaze stopped on Liam, sitting next to him, hand still resting on the back of his neck.

“Hey,” Liam said, head rested on a hand, “you look tired.”

Theo sat up, dislodging the hand on his neck. He scrubbed a hand across his face and took a deep breath. “Didn’t sleep much last night,” he said sarcastically, staring impassively at Liam. “Why is it so late?”

“Thought it’d be best to let you sleep. I fought off a teacher to let you stay.”

“Thanks, but I don’t need you doing things for me,” Theo grunted as he stood. His back hurt from leaning over so long.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I just thought it might be nice to be a little rested before the test tomorrow.”

Theo didn’t know there was going to be a test. He must have missed that. He gathered up his stuff and slung his backpack over his shoulder, about to walk away.

“Wait! Look, the gang is having a sleepover...thing at my house tomorrow, I’d like you to come too, if only just to hang out with us…?”

“I’ll think about it.”

-

Theo did end up going because Mason and Corey basically kidnapped him at the end of the school day.

“Don’t be so grumpy, it’s going to be fun!” Mason told him, pushing Theo into his car.

“Is he always this pushy?” Theo asked Corey.

Corey nodded, earning himself a smack on the arm. He turned to Mason’s offended face. “It’s because you care and want what’s best for people, it’s cute, honestly.”

Mason smiled and kissed Corey, making Theo scowl in the backseat, he did not appreciate bearing witness to the lovey-dovey atmosphere.

-

Theo learned more about Liam’s friends that night.

Nolan was feistier than Theo originally thought, holding his own during the games they played.

Gabe, Nolan’s childhood friend, and Brett, a friend from a different school, were mostly just assholes as far as he could tell.

Mason knew literally everything, no one dared play Trivial Pursuit against him.

Corey had the best reaction time he had ever seen. His hands flew over the controller buttons, shooting down anyone who came into sight.

And Liam, he was weirdly perfect. His stupid laugh made Theo’s heart throb with joy. The way he took care of everyone made Theo melt. The way he brushed his stupidly beautiful fingers against Theo’s arm accidentally, made heat simmer in his belly.

Theo hated everything about this. Theo did not want to be here anymore, but at the same time, his body refused to leave.

 

Liam made a squawking noise as Corey and Nolan threw him onto the bed, everyone but Theo dogpiling on top of him.

“Guys- can’t- breathe!” Liam’s words came out choppy, lack of air turning his face red.

The pile spread themselves out on Liam’s king-sized bed, all too comfortable with the arrangement for Theo’s liking.

Liam looked up at him, seeing the discomfort in Theo’s eyes. He looked around, finding no space for Theo on the bed. “Move over Nolan,” he said, rolling the poor kid on top of Brett and Gabe, oddly none of them seemed to mind. He looked at Theo again, patting the free spot he just made.

“No thanks, I think I’ll just sleep on the couch.”

“Bull, you won’t sleep anywhere, so you might as well be here.”

Theo huffed, knowing Liam was right. He lie awkwardly with his back to Liam. He startled slightly when Liam threw an arm around his waist.

“Sorry, I thought you liked cuddling….” Liam whispered, pulling his arm away.

Theo grabbed it, bringing it closer to his chest. “No, it’s cool, I just wasn’t expecting it.”

It took ages, but Theo did eventually fall asleep. Several hours later, Brett woke him with an elbow to the gut. Theo’s eyes shot open.

Brett tried again to extricate himself from the stranglehold Nolan had on him. “Help, I need to pee.”

Theo snickered at him.

Brett narrowed his gaze, unimpressed.

Theo pulled at Nolan's arm, kid was way stronger than he thought. He yanked, successfully slapping himself in the face with Nolan's hand. He ignored the pain, holding Nolan aloft as Brett wiggled out from under him.

“Thanks, man, I owe you one.”

The rest of the group woke up slowly, one after another. Not one of them eager to leave the plush bed.

Theo felt a puff of air and a nose nuzzling against his neck. “Good morning,” said a low, groggy voice too close to Theo. “Did you sleep?”

Theo could lie, say he hadn’t, and get out of future humiliation, but his mouth betrayed him before he could. “I did.”

“Good, I’m glad.” He paused, Theo thought he had fallen asleep again. “What’s for breakfast?”

“I dunno man, this is your house,” Brett said, squishing back into his spot.

“Nah dude, we stay at my house and someone else has to bring the food. Thems the rules.”

“Let’s just go to Pancake House,” Corey suggested.

Nolan whined, “that means I’d have to get up.”

“Well, you can’t eat in my bed, so either get up or we’re eating without you.”

Nolan sighed. “That means my space heaters are going to leave…fine, let’s go get pancakes.” He picked himself up, injuring Brett and Gabe on his way off the bed. The kid was a walking disaster on a good day.

-

The rest of the day went smoothly. Theo skillfully avoided all incriminating or embarrassing questions. Everyone was about to leave and Liam grabbed his hand.

“Why are you avoiding me again?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You let me hold you last night and now you won’t even come near me. What the hell is going on between us?” Liam sounded angry, almost betrayed.

Theo stared at him dumbfounded. “I didn’t think there was an us. You have a girlfriend, Liam.”

Liam’s eyes widened. “I forgot to tell you...we broke up ages ago. I thought this was a thing that was happening, but if you don’t want it to I’ll leave you alone.”

Theo’s head shook violently without his consent.

Liam looked confused now. “No, you don’t want this, or no, you don’t want it to stop?”

Theo held up two fingers. Screw you body, you don’t know what’s best for me!

Liam’s face cracked into a smile. He launched himself at Theo, trapping him in a hug.

“Thank God!”

“I'm atheist.”

“Thank athey then!”

“That's not-”

“I don't care. You're ruining the moment.”

Theo hugged Liam back, pressing his face against the junction of his neck.

“I'm glad you said yes because I was going to continue bugging you until we became friends at least.”

Theo laughed, tugging Liam closer. “You are insufferable,” he said fondly.

-

Life continued better than it had. Theo either snuck into Liam's room at night or napped near him after school, depending on how strict his foster parents decided to be that week.

Liam's friend group continued their monthly sleepovers and it only took a year for Theo to become truly comfortable with them.

Theo and Liam started as casual nap friends and grew into boyfriends. It wasn't exactly the fairytale ending that every kid hopes for, but Theo did find his knight in shining armor and that was enough for him.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sleep deprived that all my fics having beds in them.
> 
> Fun fact: That nightmare was one that I had. No idea what it was trying to tell me.


End file.
